Have you ever heard of foreshadowing? It's a concept that something is said or happens that is relevant to something that eventually comes to pass. Some call it jinxing someone.
Like if you told your friend not to fall when he was walking on the ledge of a bridge, and then three days later he attempts the same thing but falls to his death. This is foreshadowing or jinxing however you want to call it.
Such event is about to take place. After a few minutes of actually going toe to toe with Sehaela, I was confident that my next set of maneuvers were a guaranteed victory. Remember when the Captain told me not to let my confidence get me hurt? Well in this moment, I didn't remember.
As I lunged in to strike with the flat of my off hand axe against her staff with intention to come in with a main hand strike, the wind was knocked out of me. Pun intended. Sehaela had used the deflection to spin and then jab the point of her staff, loaded with a wind gust, straight at my gut.
I flew backwards into a training dummy. My eyes were wide and my breathing was non existent for a solid three seconds. I then slumped weakly onto the ground and flung my axes at my sides into the dirt floor of the training arena. I was done. She'd bested me in every way possible. I just couldn't compete with her magic and fighting art combined.
"You have nothing to be sad about. You as a brawler were able to make a warmage sweat nervously and have to go all out." The Captain stated as he made himself noticeable, "Admitting defeat, however, is defeat in itself."
"She's just too prepared for everything I come up with." I sighed.
"In a fighting stage, she'd be cheating. She is one with the wind. She can feel air currents and can adjust to them. As a fire warmage, someday you will be able to burn that connection, rendering her blind in this regard."
"Yeah, I have an upper hand right now, but wow... I've never seen a brawler be as adept as you with so little time and experience. You really gave me a run for my money." Sehaela stated with sincere admiration, "I really want to witness your awakening."
"I appreciate your kind words, but I still lost." I said.
"For now... On the note of your awakening, it is nearly time. The preparations have been made. Sehaela, if he is ok with it, you are welcome to join." The Captain stated.
'Wow, time has really flown by. I can't wait!' I thought before speaking, "Yes she can come."
"Very well, off to the bathhouse with the both of you. You smell like a pair of sweaty hoglins." The Captain laughed.
We both grimaced as the realization of our own body odors were indeed atrocious. A hoglin is a magical creature that wallows in mud and its own excrement. They are very disgusting, but very dangerous. They can manipulate their own muck and are known for dragging poor souls under the muck and eating them alive. To say the least, they smell absolutely horrible.
We both picked up our belongings and ran to our respective bathhouses which were of course separated for males and females to have their privacy. As I was bathing, I became more anxious for the coming events.
The preparations spoken of were several third tier water maji( maji are people who have devoted their lives specifically to the art of magic) all in place to extinguish the inevitable outbreak of my rebellious fire magic. This only solidified my anxiety.
I knew that I would probably be unable to leave the confines of that place for a long time. At least, I couldn't until I could keep myself from accidentally burning the entire castle down, and I would still be followed by some of those maji in order to prevent further outbreak of my dangerous element. My life was about to change significantly for an indefinite amount of time.
After finishing my bath, I donned my noble battle attire, basically fancy warrior clothes. I chose this because I have decided to be a warmage much to the approval of my grandfather, Lord Zetrion. He was happy to see the heir would hopefully become a powerful force as the future Lord of the Mourn-shard estate. Personally, I didn't care too much for the politics of it all. In fact my preference was actually to lead the brigade some day as the Captain, and then to someday see the world.
I arrived back at the arena only to find that I must have been lost in my thoughts and emotions much longer than I was aware. Sehaela was already at the Captain's side fully ready in her decorative armor. She made a sarcastic yawning gesture.
"Took you long enough. You still look like a hoglin." Sehaela laughed.
"Good, and here I was thinking I wouldn't end up matching you." I replied with wit.
"Ahem... Let's depart." Captain Dalragon stated.
My apologies. I believe I have forgotten to mention his name before now. Captain Dalragon has apparently been a part of my life since I was born and has always gone by only Captain that I've grown accustomed to only referring to him as such.
"I'm ready." I stated trying to be confident but my nervous dry throat betrayed me.
"You'll do just fine." Captain Dalragon stated.
We then turned and left the barracks of the brigade and traversed through the market which at this hour of the evening was desolate. The only sounds were the insects and the flickering of the torches. It had a very ominous eerie vibe. We made our way up to a part of the castle that looked completely different than I remembered.
It was a short tower, but it was shrouded in what seemed like a veil of crystal clear water about a meter thick. I looked at the Captain who looked back at me with comforting eyes. We stepped straight through the veil, and, to my surprise, we were completely dry as if there had been no water at all.
Intrigued I turned back and reached a hand back into the veil. My hand actually became wet from this side of the veil. Dry in Wet out. A welcoming safety net, like I was going to become some kind of disease.
As I stepped up to the center of the room, I looked around to see the maji in a circle around me, but My family was just outside the veil, able to see me clearly.
"This is where we must depart from you." The Captain stated, "You're going to do well."
With that, Sehaela and he left, and the veil parted for them to pass through for them to join the audience of witnesses. The veil immediately reformed, closing me and the maji inside. I was now intensely nervous, but this was it. This was the moment I have been waiting for.
The seconds ticked by like hours. I could feel the anxious eyes staring down at me.